Oo la la! Come to the beautiful city of Paris in 1900. A giant model of the city from around 1900 (hence the name), it has been carefully rebuilt according to old photos and blueprints. It’s not exactly laid out as Paris, of course, but that’s not the point. On this land you will see the Eiffel Tower. Quite a model too, It is scaled to size as well, and it is huge! You can take the lift to the different levels, and at the summit, take a parachute down the side back to the ground. Under the tower there are little gardens to stroll in, to relax in, and to see the works of art, pieces by Picasso and Degas.

You can take a stroll down the Champs-Élysées, or you can ride a bike down the Champs-Élysées! NIce to have a wide place for bike riding.

It’s all laid out nicely, with plenty of places to find information about where the buildings are, and historical markers, all in French and English.

The town of Nantucket is actually a group of three small islands off the coast of Massachusetts – Muskeget, Tuckernuck and Nantucket. The second Life version of Nantucket is a darn good re-creation of this beautiful old town, with its marina, shops and homes.

If you compare the above picture from a picture of the real Nantucket:

You can see how good of a job they have done. All that’s missing are the trees (more trees!) and the cars (fewer cars in real life!). There is also a concert area, featuring music by many artists – folk, classical, and I understand that it has become a popular place to play. Not surprising, considering the high quality sim here.

Most of the shops – well, all of the shops – are dedicated to painting and design. The shops are comfortable, warm and inviting, something that is often missing in the Wal-Mart sized shops that you often find around Second Life, and, in fact, in our real world. I think we have lost that in our loud, intrusive world today – quiet streets, small walkable towns. We seem not to mind living in cities that look like the backside of a strip mall.

There are beaches, lighthouses and a marina. There are also houses for rent for the eternal summer season.

In the Sim of Braunworth there is the Basilica Cardinale. Run by the cleverly named Cardinal Sin, it is very impressive space. Here we are looking up the nave:

the colors are dark and rich and all the details are thought out. I have asked the Cardinale if he used a cathedral in real life as a model (obviously he used the basic idea of what a cathedral looks like), when I find out anything, I will report back and you can visit a real one as well!

You too can be a priest!

And, in the finest Catholic fashion, a shop!

The church in the Medieval period was a seat of literacy, the rate of illiteracy until the Industrial Revolution was most likely above 90%. While I was here, a robed figure approached me and didst speak thusly: “I am a Prest(sic) of this church.” Please make sure your priests can at least spell. Anyway:

Satoko Instruments is a small shop tucked away in a nook in a modern, busy area of Minatomirai.

Are you a performer looking for instruments? I don’t mean electric guitars or drums, those shops are a dime a dozen. I mean trumpets, bassoons, trombones, violins and oboes. Do you play Asian instruments? Then pipas, shakuhachis, kotos, dizis and sanshins are for sale as well. Unfortunately there isn’t a sample instrument to test, or I could tell you haow they play and look on the avatar. But the pictures on the boxes look nice (I’m assuming the picture is a good representation of what you get.)

While I was there, we I listened to another patron performing on the Satoko piano. Nicely played, if you like Mozart. Put together an Oompah band, or a Chinese ensemble, get ready for those live performances!